2008 Kia Cee'd 1.6LS

Wrong Name, Right Car: As Usual, Europe gets a quality car that won't be seen on these shores.

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As car names go, Cee'd is about as off the mark as they get, giving Merkur a run for its ill-advised money. Kia says it was named for good reason. Since the car was designed and is built in Europe, Kia took the initials for the European Economic Community—CEE in some countries—and added ED for European Design. Okay, maybe that's not such a good reason, but "Ceeed" would make even less sense, hence the extraction of an e and the addition of an apostrophe.

Lucky for Kia, the name is just about the only thing wrong with the compact hatchback, which competes in Europe with the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, and Mazda 3. Initially available as a five-door hatchback, the Cee'd is built on a new platform and is produced at the Kia factory in Zilina, Slovakia. The car rides on a 104.3-inch wheelbase, and that's reflected in a roomy, spacious cabin that has more headroom and legroom than in a Civic or Mazda 3. The cargo area is reasonably sized, too, with 12 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats and 46 cubic feet with the seats folded.

The Cee'd has a strut-front suspension with a multilink independent rear arrangement as well as standard anti-lock disc brakes and available stability control. There are four engines: 103-hp, 1.4-liter and 120-hp, 1.6-liter inline-fours, both gasoline engines; and 89-hp and 113-hp 1.6-liter four-cylinders, both turbo-diesels. All engines come with a standard five-speed manual, but the 1.6 can be outfitted with a four-speed automatic in uplevel GS and LS trim.

We drove a 1.6LS, which comes well equipped for a Euro small car with 16-inch aluminum wheels, power windows, heated door mirrors, steering-wheel audio controls, remote central locking, half-leather upholstery, and a USB and auxiliary audio port. All Cee'ds have front, side, and curtain airbags.

The Cee'd certainly looks good—crisp, modern, and stylish, a world away from the conservative Kia products seen rolling along American roads. It's equally good inside, with a clean design and superior materials that make a Civic's or Corolla's hard plastic look low-rent. Our only complaint was the off-putting orange hue that illuminates the instruments.

The biggest revelation to those who have driven Hyundai and Kia products in the U.S., however, is the way the Cee'd goes down the road. We're used to cars that are fine in a straight line but suffer a personality bypass when the road turns interesting. The Cee'd, though, combines a supple ride with crisp handling and nicely weighted electric power steering. Country roads were certainly never this much fun in a Spectra. The ride-and-handling balance isn't quite as otherworldly as a European Focus's, but it's certainly on a par with a VW Rabbit's.

The 1.6-liter engine is willing, although 120 horsepower and 114 pound-feet of torque aren't going to win too many pink slips, as they have roughly 3000 pounds to pull around. Kia claims 0-to-62-mph acceleration of 10.8 seconds, along with a top speed of 120 mph.

Tough luck, but Kia says it has no intention of selling the Cee'd in the U.S., mainly because there are no plans to build a sedan, and hatches don't fly here. Pricing could be an issue, too. In the U.K., the base Cee'd sells for the equivalent of $17,694, rising to $21,300 for a 1.6LS. Even factoring in the weakness of the dollar, the Cee'd would sell for Mazda 3 money rather than Spectra moola, which might be a stretch in this market.